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I am new to ubuntu.

I was using windows 8.1 and wanted to install ubntu 14.04lts.To do this i had 4partitions C,D(Dbase),E(Study),F(Media),I and a free space of 26GB.By using universalusb installer,i made a bootable USB and restarted the system which booted into ubuntu installation media.I disable fast boot by power options.

I clicked on install ubuntu,and clicked "Something else" to install. I had this 26 gb free space.I used 2048Mb for swap area and rest for "/"(not gave any memory for '/boot') and completed installation.Then i removeed the usb and restarted.It took me into ubuntu without any options to choose.There was also a black screen before booting into ubuntu.I thougth that installtion was not sucessful and reinstalled ubuntu by usb and clicking on "reinstall ubuntu".Till now i did not check my partitions.After reinstallation,a boot menu appeared with Ubuntu,Advancedoptons, no windows.

I checked the files and there are no hard disk partitions.

I tried boot repair and it gave me this url: http://paste.ubuntu.com/11798860/

I tried using windows "bootsec /fixmbr" and no use. Is there any way to get my windows back?

When run this sudo fdisk -l:

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1   976773167   488386583+  ee  GPT
Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.

And when I run testdesk tools deepersearch with intel/pc partition I got this:

https://i.sstatic.net/qIbBD.jpg

I can see my parttions : System reserved,Dbase,study and media. Now what could i do?Please help me recover my partitions?

Pilot6
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vijay naidu
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2 Answers2

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You erased Windows. Did you do full backup of Windows? If you had also used the Something Else install option on reinstall you would not have had this problem. But auto reinstall erases system.

If you have any data you want to try to recover stop using system. You will not be able to recover all data nor workable system. You can try testdisk or photorec, but many say Windows tools work better.

Reinstall says overwrite Ubuntu but it also erases existing Windows or any other partitions. Sept 2014 Fix being released for one drive installs, but multiple drive installs must use Something Else. And fix is not in current versions. this bug was fixed in the package ubiquity - 2.18.8.3 jan 2015

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1265192

oldfred
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Assuming the Boot Repair output you posted is still accurate (you note in a comment that you re-installed Ubuntu, but it's not clear if that was before or after you ran Boot Repair), it seems that the GRUB setup scripts are not detecting Windows. There are several things you can try to fix this:

  • You should disable the Windows Fast Startup feature. This feature turns a Windows "shutdown" operation into a "suspend-to-disk" operation. The trouble is that the disk is then left in an inconsistent state, which can cause other OSes to fail to read shared partitions, or may mis-read them. This includes the partition where boot loaders are stored. Note that this feature is entirely separate from firmware options that may have similar names.
  • In Ubuntu, open a Terminal and type sudo update-grub. This will cause it to regenerate the GRUB configuration file. You may need to do this after you disable Fast Startup.
  • To temporarily boot Windows, you might use the firmware's own boot manager to bypass GRUB. Typically you get to this tool by hitting Esc or a function key early in the boot process. You may have used this tool to get your Ubuntu boot medium to boot.
  • Another way of temporarily booting Windows is to try disabling Secure Boot and use a CD-R or USB flash drive version of my rEFInd boot manager. If it works, it should detect both Windows and Ubuntu and let you boot either one.
  • If disabling Fast Startup and re-running update-grub doesn't help, the Boot Repair tool might help. Unfortunately, that's a bit of a gamble; it might do a better job than the standard tools or it might not. Also, it writes its new configuration over the old one, and in some rare circumstances, it will actually make matters worse.
  • If rEFInd can boot Windows, you can install it to your hard disk by installing the Debian package or PPA. You'll then use rEFInd rather than GRUB to select your boot OS. Note that you need not disable Secure Boot to use rEFInd in this way, unlike the USB and CD-R versions.

You can try these options in any order you like, although at some point, you really must disable Fast Startup in Windows, since it's a trouble-maker.

Rod Smith
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